HUMAN rights activist Omoyele Sowore has been released after an arrest by security operatives at the Federal High Court in Abuja where the trial of the leader of Independent People of Biafra (IPOB) Nnamdi Kanu took place.
Sowore announced his release in a video, saying that while he was not detained by the Police, he was harassed and beaten by the security operatives.
“We weren’t detained, we were taken to the office of the DPO and eventually, they brought us to the Federal High Court to confirm if we had a case there or not,” he said.
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Sowore was arrested on Monday while trying to gain access into the court premises which was heavily guarded by the Police and officials of the State Security Service (SSS).
According to him, he had been at the court to attend the hearing of five #BuhariMustGo protesters arrested at the Dunamis Gospel Church Headquarters in Abuja three weeks ago.
The security operatives had dispersed civilians who had gathered to witness the trial, scheduled to commence amidst limited media coverage, as only 10 media outlets were shortlisted to cover the proceedings.
The IPOB leader was first arrested in October 2015 for demanding the secession of Biafra from Nigeria. He was later granted bail in April, 2017 on health grounds and fled the country in September of the same year.
Kanu was rearrested abroad in June and extradited to the country where he was remanded in the custody of the State Security Service (SSS)
He was accused of inciting violence in Nigeria and is facing an 11-count charge of treason, treasonable felony, terrorism, and illegal possession of firearms.
Ijeoma Opara is a journalist with The ICIR. Reach her via vopara@icirnigeria.org or @ije_le on Twitter.